


Rubber Duck It

by Rymdunge



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Rubber Ducks, could be read as platonic, data cares very much even if he doesn't know it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:42:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28679826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rymdunge/pseuds/Rymdunge
Summary: Geordi is having some trouble with recalibrating the ship scanners. Data helps best he can.
Relationships: Data & Geordi La Forge, Data/Geordi La Forge
Comments: 7
Kudos: 60





	Rubber Duck It

**Author's Note:**

> (For anyone wondering about my Gravity Falls stuff. I still want to get back to it at some point, but my brain is in Star Trek mode right now. Sorry!!!)

Data could tell that something was amiss with Geordi from the sound of his gate. When Geordi fell into the chair opposite to his with a heavy sigh, hand already covering his brow, he was perfectly certain in his assessment. “Hello, Geordi. Has it been a hell of a day?”

The corners of Geordi’s mouth turned up slightly, as Data had expected them to. “You can say that again,” he muttered.

“Has it been a hell-”

“You know that wasn’t what I meant, smart ass,” Geordi interrupted, smiling fully now.

Data had been reasonably certain that Geordi had not meant to ask him to repeat himself, but he had expected that his literal interpretation of Geordi’s words might amuse his friend. Though he still did not understand humour, he had compiled an archive of behaviours other people appeared to find amusing. He had yet to achieve a satisfying success rate with individuals other than Geordi.

Geordi ordered a beverage and leaned back in his chair. “It’s this scanner recalibration!” he groaned. “No matter what I do, it’s still a little off one way or the other. I’m gonna lose it.”

“Would you like me to have a look?”

Geordi shook his head. “I wouldn’t dream of stealing you from the bridge with all the repairs.” Half a week ago, yet another hostile alien had beamed right onto the bridge and managed to blow a hole through the navigation and com stations before they were subdued.

Data was conflicted. As a Starfleet officer, it was his duty to do what was best for the ship and her crew at large, but as a Best Friend, he wanted to do everything he could to ensure that Geordi was happy and in good health. It was fortunate that those two directives did not often contradict each other.

“I’m _fine,_ Data,” Geordi said. “Just need to get some rest and get back on the horse tomorrow.” He glanced at Data with a small, expectant smile.

“I do not see how bringing a horse into engineering would be conducive to solving your problem.”

Geordi laughed, before lapsing into what Data believed was a ‘companionable’ silence. Until Geordi made another frustrated sound, stomping his feet. “I just don’t get it!” He waved his hands to emphasise his words. “I keep going through it, step by step, making sure every axis of every system is aligned, and then I check the final result and it’s always off one way or another.”

Data had now understood that this issue would not leave his friend’s mind until it had been solved. The only way to ‘take his mind off of it’ would be to help him resolve it. “Will you describe your process to me? Perhaps there is something you are missing.”

Geordi shook his head. “I don’t see how. I must have run through the entire sequence fifteen times this past shift.” But he still indulged Data, going through his recalibration method in a level of detail he only could with Data. In the middle of describing realigning the Z theta scanners, he stopped abruptly, mouth hanging open around an unfinished word. After a second he slapped his forehead and groaned, “Space-time delay! How could I forget!?”

He got out of his chair, evidently ready to return to engineering to apply his new realization. Data’s hand shot out to grab his arm. “You are off duty, and the scanners will still be there tomorrow.”

“C’mon, Data,” Geordi said, trying to wriggle out of Data’s gentle but vicelike grip. “It’ll take one hour tops.”

It was fortunate Data could not experience frustration. “That is irrelevant. The past five days, you have already worked seven hours beyond your scheduled work time. Repeated overexerting can cause serious consequences to a person’s mental and physical health.”

“I know, I know.”

“And yet you keep overexerting yourself.”

Geordi gave him a glare without any real anger. “This is rich coming from the guy who just finished a double-shift on the bridge.”

Data twitched his head to the side. “I am an android and do not require rest and rehabilitation.”

Geordi sighed tiredly, but he smiled lopsidedly. “Why do I get the feeling that you already have a whole row of arguments ready to go until I agree to drop it?”

“Because we are best friends, and you know me very well,” Data said plainly.

Finally Geordi sat back down in his chair. Data let his hand slip from around his wrist, but remained resting on top of the table, in case Geordi thought about trying to catch him off guard.

“Do you have any familiarity with the works of Chrétien de Troyes?” Data asked, in an effort to swiftly change the subject of the conversation.

“Can’t say I do,” Geordi said in a tone of voice that encouraged Data to go into further detail.

Data launched into a recount of _Yvain, the Knight of the Lion,_ providing his own commentary on the perplexing behaviour of fictional knights, until he noticed Geordi’s head sinking closer and closer to the table. “Geordi, I believe you are growing tired.”

“I believe you are right, Data,” Geordi mumbled. “Sorry to leave you hanging mid conversation.”

“Do not worry. We can continue this conversation at a later date if you would like.”

Once his friend was sound asleep in his own bed, Data returned to his own quarters to conduct some personal research.

—

The next day, Data arrived in engineering just as Geordi was finishing the scanner calibration with the adjustments he had come upon the night before. “Good morning, Geordi.”

Geordi grinned at him. Data already knew that his latest attempt at recalibrating the sensors had been successful, but Geordi told him anyway. “Hi, Data. I was right about the space-time delay. The sensors are _finally_ back in line.”

“That is good to hear. I never doubted your ability to solve the problem. On a related note, I have something for you, to facilitate a smoother resolution to similar issues in the future.”

Geordi furrowed his eyebrows in curiosity. “Really? What’s that?”

Data extended his closed hand. Geordi looked down at it, eyebrows raised in curiosity. After a moment of strange quiet, Data opened his hand, revealing a small, yellow rubber duck. 

Geordi pursed his lips. “Um… Thanks?” He plucked the duck from Data’s palm, turning it over as though looking at it from every angle would provide some sort of clue as to what Data meant by proffering it.

“Since we last saw each other in Ten Forward, I have researched various productivity and problem solving methods. I came across a technique called ‘rubber duck debugging’. It was a moderately popular method among software programmers in the early 21st century for discovering the source of problems in their code.”

Geordi squeezed the duck and it gave a reedy squeak. “They used toy ducks to code?”

“Not exactly. Last night, you demonstrated that humans can sometimes find overlooked faults in their work by explaining it to another person. This is the same phenomenon that is the basis for rubber duck debugging. By explaining their work in detail to an inanimate object, the programmer was able to get a new perspective on their code, and thus discover flaws they had missed.”

“Huh.” Geordi folded the duck in his hand. “If it’s good enough for the old masters…” He smiled at Data. “Thanks, buddy.”

“You are welcome,” Data said. His eyes roamed over Geord’s bright expression. Almost every process in his positronic matrix stilled or slowed for a moment, as though he had resolved every problem and calculation his mind had been working on through this simple action. “I hope it will facilitate effective problem solving in the future.”

“I’ve no doubt it will,” Geordi said, squeezing the duck again.

Data was content.


End file.
